15th Annual Sustainable Engineering Internship Symposium Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

It's that time of year again! Our Sustainable Engineering and Communications Interns are working hard to improve the systems that keep Shoals Marine Lab running. We hope you will join us on Wednesday, August 25th from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM ET for our 15th Annual SEI Symposium to hear our interns present their 2021 projects! This virtual event will take place via Zoom and will be hosted by SML's Executive Director, Dr. Jennifer Seavey. The symposium will include four brief presentations featuring the projects listed below, in addition to the work our SML Sustainability Communications Intern is conducting. The call will be divided up into two halves separated by a short 15-minute break. To register, please click here!

Register to Attend the 15th Annual SEI Symposium!

What is SML's Sustainability Program? Sustainability and environmental stewardship are core values of Shoals Marine Laboratory. Over the last 50 years, the island laboratory has built an innovative green power grid (utilizing solar and wind energy), water conservation programs, composting initiatives, and more! Our sustainability infrastructure and operating procedures, in combination with our remote island setting, provide an unparalleled opportunity for students of sustainability.  Our month-long sustainability internship program enables engineering students from across the country to work side-by-side with SML staff and a variety of professional engineers to address the engineering challenges encountered when operating and maintaining electrical, drinking water, wastewater management, and saltwater systems on a remote island.

2021 SEI Project Overview: The Power of Wind Quantifying the energy output of SML's new wind turbine and comparing data with theoretical outputs suggested by the manufacturer to confirm operating capacity and provide analysis of wind energy contribution to Lab's net energy production. Green Energy, How Much?: SML currently maintains three separate green energy grids. To integrate these grids, analysis is needed to determine the current ratio of green energy to diesel-powered energy sources, and what combination of photovoltaic, wind, and battery installations would reduce overall electrical production from fossil fuels to less than 5%.

Reverse Osmosis and the Well: Quantifying the relationships between reverse osmosis and well water production and electrical use to better understand the efficiency and electrical demands of SML's newly installed RO unit (2019). Refrigeration Upgrade Evaluation: Based on findings from our 2018 and 2019 SEI Interns, SML recently upgraded its commercial kitchen walk-in refrigerator and freezer to a more energy-efficient unit. To understand the efficiency increase of this upgrade, metering is required to calculate the energy used by the new refrigeration system as a percentage of SML's total energy consumption.

2021 Sustainable Engineering & Communications Interns

Brooke Elzweig University of Colorado '20 Sustainable Engineering Intern

Zach Robarts University of New Hampshire '21 Sustainable Engineering Intern

Anna Keiffer Cornel University '22 Sustainability Communications Intern

Thank you to our Sponsor! The 2021 Shoals Sustainability Internship Program is proudly 'Powered by Unitil'. We are very grateful for their support which allows us to offer this life-changing experience to undergraduate engineers!

Shoals Marine Laboratory is a joint partnership between Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire.

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www.shoalsmarinelaboratory.org